Continuum Fingerboard User’s Guide June 20, 2017 Firmware Version 8.50 Edmund Eagan and Lippold Haken Haken Audio - Continuum Fingerboard User’s Guide About this document The current version of this document can be found online in the Resources section of www.HakenAudio.com. We suggest new Continuum Fingerboard owners read this guide at least up to Section 10. The knowledge you gain will save you time in the future and significantly enhance your experience with your Continuum Fingerboard. After you finish reading this guide, please keep it available as a reference. Continuum Fingerboard, Continuum, Haken Continuum, Haken, and EaganMatrix are trademarks (TM) of Haken Audio. Eagan Instruments, Eagan Sounds, and Eagan are trademarks (TM) of Edmund Eagan. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. IMPORTANT! The analog audio output of the Continuum is a TRS stereo (unbalanced) connection. DO NOT use a mono 1/4” audio cable to connect to this output. Damage to the analog circuitry can be caused by doing this for an extended time period. Refer to the hook up diagrams in Section 12 for proper Continuum Fingerboard connections. Table of Contents 1. Overview of the Continuum Fingerboard 7 1.1. The Playing Surface 7 1.2. The EaganMatrix 7 1.3. What Sets the Continuum Fingerboard Apart 8 2. Haken Audio Hardware 9 2.1. The Continuum Fingerboard 9 2.2. The Continuum EaganMatrix Expander (xCEE and iCEE) 10 2.3. The Continuum Voltage Converter (CVC) 12 3. Historical Context 12 3.1. Touche 13 3.2. Fast Continuous-Pitch Playing 14 4. Midi Encoding 16 Page 2 Haken Audio - Continuum Fingerboard User’s Guide 4.1. Encoding Principles of the Continuum Fingerboard 16 4.2. Connecting an External Midi Synthesizer 17 4.3. Specialized Kyma Encoding 19 5. Specifications 20 5.1. Left and Right Panels 20 5.2. Hardware Specifications 21 6. Operating the Continuum Fingerboard 21 6.1. Turning On the Continuum Fingerboard 21 6.2. Playing the Continuum Fingerboard 22 6.3. Mono (Multiple Fingers Combined Create a Single Note) 24 6.4. Rounding, Pitch Tables, and the Pitch Table Editor 26 6.5. Quarter Inch Pedal Jacks 28 6.6. Kenton Mini Controller and Kenton USB Midi Host 29 6.7. Arturia BeatStep 31 6.8. Anckorage Continuum Remote and Continuum Kiosk 32 7. Calibration 33 8. Introduction to the Continuum Editor 34 8.1. Setting up the Continuum Editor 35 8.2. Using the Continuum Editor 37 8.3. Continuum Editor Shortcuts 38 8.4. Current Preset and Selecting System Presets 39 8.5. Open and Save User Presets in the Editor 39 8.6. User Preset Slots and Preset Groups 40 8.7. Open a Preset Group File 41 8.8. Save a Preset Group File 41 8.9. CEE Combination Presets 42 8.10. Designing Sounds for the Continuum Fingerboard 43 9. Introduction to the Overlay Strip 45 10. Configuration Options (via Continuum Editor and Overlay Strip) 46 Page 3 Haken Audio - Continuum Fingerboard User’s Guide 10.1. Gain 46 10.2. Internal Sound (Load System Preset) 47 10.3. Midi Program, Midi Routing 47 10.4. CVC 48 10.5. Polyphony 48 10.6. Channel Priority 49 10.7. X Bend 50 10.8. Y Control 50 10.9. Z Control 50 10.10. Midi Note Processing 51 10.11. Middle C 52 10.12. Split Point and Split Mode 52 10.13. Mono Function and Mono Interval 54 10.14. Round Initial, Normal Rounding, Release Rounding, Rounding via Y 55 10.15. Round Rate 56 10.16. Tuning (Select Pitch Table) 56 10.17. Pedal 1 and Pedal 2 57 10.18. Pedals Min and Max 57 10.19. Options 58 10.20. Send 59 10.21. Load and Store (User Preset Slots) 59 10.22. Cogwheel Menu: Global Settings, Kenton Settings, Pitch Table Editor, User Guides, Editor Shortcuts, Barrel Styles, List of System Presets, About 60 10.23. Surface Display 61 10.24. Pitch Trim 62 11. Loading New Firmware into the Continuum Fingerboard 63 12. Connecting to External Hardware and the Editor 64 Page 4 Haken Audio - Continuum Fingerboard User’s Guide 12.1. Analog Audio Only 64 12.2. Digital Audio 65 12.3. Analog Audio and CVC 66 12.4. Digital Audio and CVC 67 12.5. Analog Audio and CEE 68 12.6. Digital Audio and CEE 69 12.7. Analog Audio, CVC and CEE 70 12.8. Digital Audio, CVC and CEE 71 12.9. Connecting a Softsynth 72 12.10. Connecting to Kyma (Mac) 73 12.11. Connecting to Kyma (PC) 74 12.12. Connecting Midi Keyboard, Continuum and Kyma (Mac) 75 12.13. Connecting Midi Keyboard, Continuum and Kyma (PC) 76 12.14. Connecting to External Midi Synthesizer 77 12.15. Connecting a Kenton Controller with Computer 78 12.16. Connecting a Kenton Controller Standalone (No Computer) 79 12.17. Connecting a BeatStep with Computer 80 12.18. Connecting a BeatStep Standalone (No Computer) 81 13. Hardware Maintenance 82 13.1. Cleaning 82 13.2. Surface Alignment 82 13.3. Hardware Problems 83 13.4. Sensor Stuck On, or Sensor Intermittently Turn On 83 13.5. Sensor Stuck Off – Marking a Flawed Sensor 83 13.6. Clearing the Flawed Sensor List 84 13.7. Factory Calibration 84 13.8. Do - It - Yourself Repairs and Adjustments 84 14. Performance Controller Assignments 85 Page 5 Haken Audio - Continuum Fingerboard User’s Guide 14.1. Sending Midi Performance Values to the Continuum Fingerboard 85 14.2. Receiving Midi Performance values from the Continuum Fingerboard 85 14.3. Assignments 85 15. Configuration Controller Assignments 87 15.1. Load, Store, and List Presets 87 15.2. Midi Device Compatibility 87 15.3. X, Y, and Z Coding 88 15.4. Rounding and Pitch Tables 88 15.5. Polyphony, Routing, and Split 89 15.6. Quarter Inch Pedals 89 15.7. Mono Function 90 15.8. Firmware Version and CVC Serial Number 90 15.9. Other Configuration Controller Assignments 90 Page 6 Haken Audio - Continuum Fingerboard User’s Guide 1. Overview of the Continuum Fingerboard 1.1. The Playing Surface The Haken Audio Continuum Fingerboard tracks the position and pressure of fingers on its playing surface. Unlike a Midi keyboard, which only starts and stops notes, the Continuum Fingerboard lets the performer intimately interact with the sound throughout every note, breathing life and expression into the musical performance. The Continuum Fingerboard is neither an easy-to-use gadget nor a device for replacing electronic or acoustic instruments; instead, it is a new instrument in its own right, with immediate appeal as well as lifelong challenges for the serious musician. The Continuum Fingerboard has a built-in synthesizer specifically designed for Continuum playing. The internal synthesizer has predefined sounds as well as the ability to create user-defined sounds. Stereo output from the internal synthesizer can be heard through the high quality analog output (stereo line level and headphone level) as well as the AES digital audio outputs. The Continuum Editor application (for Mac and Windows), connects to the Continuum Fingerboard via Midi. The Continuum Fingerboard performance data can control external synthesizers via Midi, or analog modular synths via the Continuum Voltage Converter. 1.2. The EaganMatrix The EaganMatrix is the modular digital synthesizer built into the Continuum Fingerboard. For the Performer Many new sound algorithms have been finely crafted with the EaganMatrix. These EaganMatrix Presets exploit the unprecedented control possible with the Continuum Fingerboard. They provide the performer with an ever-increasing set of sophisticated sound environments to shape and explore using novel finger techniques. For the Sound Designer Not only does the EaganMatrix provide a large number of new presets for the performer, it is also a fantastic tool for the sound designer. The Continuum Editor provides the EaganMatrix user interface. Since the EaganMatrix requires no external synthesizer, sound designs can easily be shared with other Continuum Fingerboard players. The radically new design of the EaganMatrix requires the sound designer to think in a mathematical way that is different from traditional hardware and software synthesizers. As the sound designer masters the EaganMatrix, its new capabilities will allow creation of musically satisfying relationships between fingers on the playing surface and the sounds produced, relationships that rival the warmth and complexity of acoustic instruments. For more information, please see the EaganMatrix User’s Guide available in the Resources area at www.HakenAudio.com. Page 7 Haken Audio - Continuum Fingerboard User’s Guide 1.3. What Sets the Continuum Fingerboard Apart The Continuum Fingerboard has been under development since the 1980s, culminating in the Continuum Fingerboard with Light Action. In recent years, the idea of “Expressive Controllers” and “Expressive Midi” have been popularized, and many devices based on inexpensive sensing technologies have hit the market. As a result, there is much confusion of the capabilities of the Continuum Fingerboard compared to other “Expressive Controllers”. These are five key features of a Continuum Fingerboard with Light Action that set it apart from other “Expressive Controllers”: 1. The Continuum Fingerboard has unparalleled temporal resolution. This means it has quick response to user actions. The Continuum Fingerboard hardware does a complete scan of all of its sensors several times per millisecond, and this is evident in the resulting sound when a skilled player performs well-designed presets. 2. The Continuum Fingerboard has unparalleled pressure resolution. The pressure resolution is up to 15 bits in long sustained notes, allowing tiny pressure-related timbre changes, and detailed pitch trajectories in pressure- weighted portamentos, not possible on any other electronic instrument. 3. The most important part of a note (from a psychoacoustic perspective) is the attack.